Beast (24 page)

And the love of my life
, I thought. If only I could tell her that out loud.

“That is so sweet, Beast,” she said, this time putting her hand on my knee.

I had not expected this response; my heart skipped a beat, and my breathing became shallow and rapid.

“It is the truth, Mirabelle. I have never met anyone like you—someone who is just as gorgeous on the inside as the outside.”

“Well, you are nothing like I expected. You are the sweetest beast I have ever met.” She giggled.

“That is because I am the
only
beast you have ever met.” I laughed.

After we finished our meal, we made our way to the ballroom. We stood at the door before we walked in.

My eyes followed the pattern of the doors; I was lost in thought.

“I have not been in here since my parents threw their last ball,” I said, staring at the door.

“How old were you?”

“It was about a month or so before my fifth birthday. I watched people play the piano in here, and I envied them. But Mother told me that I could not play the piano in here until I was older. Now that I am older, it feels weird to go in here without them.”

Mirabelle grabbed on to my hand as I asked the Invisibles to open the door for us.

As the doors began to open, I shut my eyes tightly. The doors hit the wall with a boom, which caused me to open my eyes.

The ballroom was just as I remembered it. It had a high ceiling that was decorated with roses carved into the wood. The room was long and wide; it was big enough to hold over two thousand guests, if not more. The floors were made of light-colored wood.

So many dances had taken place here. I started to hear the music playing in my head. Ghosts from balls of long ago appeared on the dance floor. Since the piano was in the far right corner of the room, we walked through the dancing spirits to get to it. As we passed through them, the spirits faded away.

Every once in a while, Mirabelle looked up at me. The brooch I had given her caught all the lit candles in the ballroom, creating patterns on the floor. There were so many candles lit that the room was as bright as the daytime.

My nerves began to act up as we came closer to the piano. All I could think about was my parents. Mirabelle seemed to sense that I was nervous. While we walked, my arms began to shake; I kept grabbing the collar of my shirt as if it had suddenly become too tight around my neck.

Also, my breathing had changed to long, slow breaths, as if I were focusing on each breath. She would rub my arm every so often and smile at me, which was her way of comforting me.

Once at the piano, I slowly sat on the bench. Taking in a deep breath, I shut my eyes and placed my fingers on the keys.

While my eyes were shut, I saw my parents. They were standing near the piano, to my right, encouraging me to play.

“You can do it, sweetie! I have faith!” Mother stated.

“Show us what you have been working on in the music room,” Papa chimed in.

“We love you,” they said in unison.

Once I opened my eyes, they disappeared, but Mirabelle was standing on my right side in their place.

“Come on, Beast! I want to hear what you have been working on,” she encouraged me.

Her smile made the nerves settle a little. In my head, I told my parents that I loved them and that this was for them.

I began to play the song that had taken me two hundred years to finish. Again I closed my eyes, becoming lost in the combination of notes.

When I played, I put my heart and soul into it. It was not just music, but also who I was. In those moments, everything disappeared and I was at peace. Nothing else mattered. But this time while playing, all I could see in my mind was Mirabelle’s face. This caused my heart to feel more at rest and calmer than ever before.

Besides my parents, those who worked in the castle, and my teacher, Mirabelle was the first person to hear me play.

When I finished the song, I opened my eyes. Mirabelle was closer to me than she had been before I started playing.

“Oh my goodness, Beast! That was so beautiful! Did you write that?” She clapped ecstatically.

“Yes, I did. I started writing it when I was four or so, when I learned to write and read music notes, but I could not finish it until you came to my castle. I guess that you were my muse for it,” I explained.

“Really?” She blushed. “Thank you for showing me this wonderful talent of yours. It is a lot better to listen when I am not trying to hide.” She sat down on the bench with me.

“I am glad. I wanted to show you all that I could about me. I thought maybe my music could tell you who I was more than words could.”

“Well, it definitely did.” She put her hand on my arm.

With her hand still on my arm, she stood up and stepped away from the bench. She held out her hand toward me.

“Would you like to dance?” she asked in a manly voice.

“Are not I supposed to ask you?” I chuckled.

“Oh well, I am asking regardless.” She giggled. “So how about that dance?” She used the manly voice again and winked.

“I would love to,” I said, grabbing her hand and standing up.

When we started to dance, there was no music.

Moments after we began to dance, to our surprise, music filled the ballroom. We looked around to see where it was coming from, but I was unable to discover the source. I figured that it must have been the Invisibles.

While we danced, Mirabelle and I had a connection in a way I could not explain, but it was only a spark. Now it felt as if a fire were starting. I had thought that there was no way I could love her more than I already did, but I was wrong. Every day, every moment, I fell in love with her all over again.

As I spun her, her dress twirled around; she was having fun and giggling. We began to dance at a slower pace, and Mirabelle put her head on my chest. My heart was overjoyed; I thought that she must have been able to feel my heart beating. The more we danced, the deeper I fell.

While all of this was amazing and exciting, I could not help but feel that she was going to leave soon. But I knew I needed to enjoy the moment we were currently in.

There was a door that led outside to a patio connected to the ballroom; we decided to walk outside to enjoy the stars.

“That was fun! Who would have thought that a beast could dance so gracefully?” she whispered as she nudged me in the side.

“Well, before I turned into the Beast, I had a private teacher and took dance lessons. Mother wanted to make sure that I danced well at all the balls and parties I would attend. I did not like it when I was younger, but I am glad that they made me.” I smiled back.

“Look at the stars; they are so incredible!” Mirabelle gasped when she looked up, squeezing my arm.

“They are nothing compared to you,” I said as I turned to face her.

She looked into my eyes, blushing. She hugged me so tightly that letting go would be difficult. As we parted, I put my hands on her shoulders.

“My beautiful, lovely, incredible, breathtaking Mirabelle,” I said softly.

“Yes, Beast?” she answered.

“Will you marry me?”

“I am sorry, Beast.” She looked down.

I nodded and then wrapped my arms around her.

“Would you like me to walk you to your room?”

“Yes, please!” She yawned.

We walked to her room in silence, but it was not a bad silence.

“Thank you for tonight, my beauty. It was a perfect way to finally play in the ballroom,” I told her.

“I had a wonderful time too; thank you for letting me be a part of it, Beast.” She grabbed my hands.

We hugged good night before she walked into her room. As she turned to close the door, she looked up and smiled at me.

Boom.

The door sounded much louder than it probably was; it startled me. But there I was, standing in the hallway alone.

Chapter 15

W
inter quickly turned into spring. The trees began to blossom as the weather warmed. Mirabelle and I spent a lot of time together outside, especially with her horse, but he still was not completely comfortable around me.

We still went to the library. Since the weather was no longer brisk, we moved our chairs next to the open windows.

One day, after a trip to the library, I walked up to Mirabelle’s door and knocked on it.

“Mirabelle, I was wondering if you had anything you would like for dinner tonight,” I said.

I did not hear anything, so I knocked again.

“Mirabelle? Are you in there?”

Still nothing. I was not sure if she was ignoring me or if she was not in the room at the moment.

I walked around the castle and looked for her. No matter where I looked, I could not find her. I checked in the dining room, the library, the barn, my room, the kitchen, and the ballroom. I even checked the foyer. Either she was avoiding me or I was just having the worst luck finding her.

I gave up and walked into the dining room to sit on the couch to rest. Buttons was on the couch licking himself. When I sat down, I picked him up and set him on my lap.

“Buttons, where could she be? I have looked everywhere that I can think of!” I said to him.

He looked up at me and yawned.

“Oh, you are no help.” I laughed.

After I said this, he jumped off my lap and ran over to the window.

“What do you think you are doing?” I asked. I followed him with my eyes.

Then I saw her!

Buttons had actually helped me find her! Mirabelle was outside, crouched on her hands and knees, tilling the rose bed.

“So this is where she has been disappearing to!” I said quietly.

I quickly walked away from the window, hoping that she did not see me.
Is she trying to help the dead roses?
I was not sure that anything would help those poor things.
But why is she doing this?

One night, while I was sitting on my bed, staring at the roses, a vision of the Rose House, Mirabelle’s house, came into my mind.

It was nighttime, and there was a fire in the fireplace. Evaline was over by the stove, cleaning up, while Nadine and Reynard were sitting on the couch. This time I was able to see the faces of all of them. Evaline had deep-blue eyes like her father’s, while Nadine had bright-green eyes.

“How do you think she is doing?” Evaline broke the silence.

“I do not know, but I believe that she is okay,” Reynard stated.

“I cannot believe that the story you told us about the Beast is real!” Nadine said to Evaline.

“I know—me either! I thought that it was just a folktale meant to scare the younger children. I wish that I had never told that story!” Evaline explained.

“At least we still have the roses to comfort us. I like to think that since they are still alive, she is well,” Reynard said softly.

“It is quite amazing that they are still alive even though no one has been able to take care of them since Mirabelle left,” Nadine said, thinking out loud.

They all had sadness in their voices. I was so happy to have Mirabelle with me, but her family missed her terribly.

The vision faded, and I realized that it had been my first vision of the Rose House since Mirabelle’s arrival. I worried that she would want to leave me at any moment. Unless she finally said yes to my marriage proposal, I did not see why she would stay with me instead of being with her family.

A few more days passed, and Mirabelle still did not tell me about what she was doing with the roses. I figured that she wanted it to be a surprise, so I kept my mouth shut; I was curious to know if they were growing or if they still looked as if they were dead. But I kept myself from checking up on them.

It had been a few days since we had been outside with her horse. But I knew that if she wanted to try it again, she would let me know.

As soon as she was done with her lunch, she stood up.

“Come on!” she said, and she put out her hand for me to grab on to.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“You will see!” She smiled.

I was not sure where she was going to take me, but I trusted her.

She took me outside and told me to wait by the door. As I waited, she ran into the barn to take her horse out. When she brought him out, he saw me but was not frightened, as he usually was.

Mirabelle rode him out into the yard. For a moment, I just watched them. He listened to everything that she instructed him to do, always without hesitation. It seemed as if he hung on her every word.

I started to walk toward them. As I came closer, Majestueux
still did not become frightened by me. When I was about twenty feet away, I thought for sure that he would become startled. But I continued forward, and he was completely calm.

I shut my eyes and stepped forward until Mirabelle told me to stop.

“Beast! Oh my! Look how close you are.” She looked down at her horse as she patted him on the neck. “Good boy! I told you that he would be comfortable around you.”